With the long weekend over and everyone having to trudge back into the work week, I thought I’d bring a healthy work lunch option for the week. This week we have Turkey Meatballs with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans.
Why meatballs? And furthermore, Turkey?
First, meatballs are a great work lunch item. They keep well and they retain moisture & flavor over the entire week (If you use my fail safe method). Why turkey? I received ground turkey in my basket this week from Friends and Farms AND, I wanted a leaner protein option for this weeks lunch.
After a entire weekend of consuming an unhealthy amount of red meat and fat(i.e. a 20 0z. Delmonico Steak cooked to perfection) , I wanted to start anew. I am your classic customer who says, “I’ll take the zillion ounce steak with butter, but I’d like a diet coke because well… I want to be healthy! ”
I hope you all had a great and more importantly safe Independence Day weekend.
Ingredients (Yields about 30 Meatballs)
1lb Ground Turkey 94% Lean
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup of Coconut Flour (I wanted to avoid using breadcrumbs to make it slightly healthier. Coconut flour adds some extra fiber to the meatballs as well, it’s a nice substitute).
1/2 Spring Onion Shredded
2 Cloves of Crushed Garlic
1 Tbsp. of Thyme
2 Tbsp. of Salt
1 Tbsp. of Pepper
1/2 cup of Chicken Broth (I make my own, just boil your chicken bones from a dinner with some thyme and salt and you have a cheap and healthy broth)
1/2 Cup of White Wine
1 Tbsp. of Butter
Sweet Potatoes (I had frozen some cut up sweet potatoes)
3 Cups of Green Beans
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350F .
Throw your sweet potatoes on a baking sheet with some olive oil and toss them into your oven. Let them cook slowly until they are cooked through. You can glaze them with some additional olive oil and salt for taste throughout the cooking process.
In a mixing bowl, combine shredded onion ( I just cut it into halves and ran it through my food processor), crushed garlic, ground turkey, salt, pepper, coconut flour, thyme ,and eggs. Mix together these ingredients with your hand ( I wear a glove, less messy) until you have a nice even mixture. If you find your mixture to be too “goopy” which ground turkey has a tendency to be, add some more coconut flour.
Roll your meat mixture into about quarter sized balls (haha Balls!).
Heat your pan (I use a cast iron skillet) with some olive oil. Once the pan is nice and hot you can start placing the meatballs onto the hot pan (you might have to do two shifts or use two pans like I did). Allow them to cook for about 2 – 3 minutes and flip them so they are golden brown on each side. Then add a 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, this will deglaze the pan some and bring some more moisture to the meatballs. Reduce the broth down with the meatballs. (If you aren’t familiar with the word, Reduce, it’s just cooking talk for bring the liquid to a boil to intensify the flavor)
Once the broth is reduced down you should start to see a little bit of browning on your pan, add a 1/4 cup of the wine, deglaze the pan and throw into the oven (if it can go in the oven, if not transfer to a oven safe dish).
Cook at 350 for about 20 minutes (check one meatball to see if it’s cooked). Take it out of the oven, remove the meatballs from your pan/dish. Deglaze the pan/dish with the rest of the broth & wine.
Add the butter to the pan with the broth & wine, allow it to melt and foam slightly. Once you have a nice sauce forming, add the green beans. Let them cook until the green beans start to turn a bright green. I like to put the lid on the pan to allow some of the steam to allow the beans to cook slightly more after I take them off the pan. The green beans should have a nice crunch to them (if you like them to have less of a crunch, just cook longer).
Enjoy!
